November 16, 2006

Uninformed by history

I wish some of the advocates of partitioning Iraq into three parts (Kurds in the north, Sunnis in the middle, Shiites in the south) would look back to the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947-1948 and see how well that turned out. This photo essay by Margaret Bourke-White shows the misery that resulted from that earlier exercise in population movement.

This article discusses the effects continued sectarian strife in Iraq is having and will have on its neighbors.

I don't have any answers either, but if history teaches us anything, from the India-Pakistan partition to the more recent ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, splitting countries up into racial or ethnic divisions has no happy ending.

Posted by Linkmeister at November 16, 2006 09:23 AM | TrackBack
Comments

I admit I am clueless how to respond to a tripartite diviwsion of the country.

Surely, Turkey would invade, Iran would absorb, and the hapless Sunni's be left with nothing but anger at the other two.

Posted by: pixelshim at November 18, 2006 03:47 AM